Николай Боев [Nikolay Boev]
29 December 1997 ·
volume 8 · pp. 51–68 ·
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Abstract: [no abstract available originally]
[Summary]: The present article covers a wide range of questions concerning the presence of the wolf in the Bulgarian folklore. Its publication follows an unpublished manuscript from 1978 of the famous Bulgarian zoologist Nikolay Boev (1922–1985). The offered version is edited by Zlatozar Boev with insignificant shortenings. Among the topics concerned are: The Wolf as a contemporary of the ancient inhabitants of the Bulgarian lands; The dog — the “Wolf” helper of the Man; The Wolf as a totem animal; Etymology of the word “Wolf”; Toponymy, related to the name “Wolf”; The folk image of the Wolf; Folk feast, related to the Wolf; Beliefs about the Wolf; Folk manners of Wolf hunting. This article represents only a part of the whole series of such studies about the wild animals in the Bulgarian folklore, planned by N. Boev. He intended to write such papers on the Brown bear, the Fox, the Otter, the Weasel, the Pine Marten, the Beech Marten, the Lynx, the Wild Boar, the Red Deer, the Auroch, the “Eagle”, the “Falcon”, the “Swallow”, the Blackbird, etc. Unfortunately only the results about the Beaver are partly published up till now.